SUBURBAN * POP

Back in that hallway post, I showed a wall of photos. Personally, am not too big on displaying family photos. Lots of people get great joy from them, but my heart is dark and I do not. I really enjoy it in at other people’s homes, but it’s not something I personally want to live with daily.  And there’s always a voice in my head saying this could have been in a book instead of taking up a WHOLE wall. Man, I’m a downer. But my husband requested some photos of the kids, at least for the time being; it was possibly the only house related thing he has ever in his life requested. So a wall o’ photos went up around the corner in our bedroom hallway. It’s not like BOOM IN YOUR FACE portraits of the moment you walk in the door, so I can deal with it. The all black and white also helps it not feel too cluttery.

We walk by it many times a day, looking at our beautiful, calm, quiet children’s faces while their actual bodies are flailing around the house at excruciating volumes and knocking the pictures of themselves off the wall. My kids are my absolute favorite thing ever, just parenting is a lot sometimes :)But the point is this: I did this wall for so cheap, which I try to do with things we might switch up in the future.

Cheapness #1: Ikea is clearly the place for cheap frames, but I did one better. These black 11 x 16 Ikea frames were purchased as a lot on ebay for $35 total. Twenty frames for $35. Probably not easily replicated, but maybe worth a try?

Cheapness #2: I used a pad of water color paper for the mats (cut with an exacto and ruler) instead of actual mat board. I think I spent $12.

Cheapness #3: The photos are drugstore printed black and white 3×5’s.

Obviously, nothing about this is an archival framing method, but it serves it’s purpose for now and I filled an entire wall for about $50. Not bad.

And, for the next few years let’s have a standing agreement that you’ll excuse the lack of baseboards anywhere in my house. Thanks for reading!